Improvement in methods of putting unfinished work on knitting-machines



E. H. DAVISON & WIJCHAPMAN.

METHOD 0N PUTTING UNFINISHED WORK 0N KNITTING MACHINES- NO.179,43,Patented July %',1876.

w JWAAMMM N-PETERS. FHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT EDWARD H. DAVISON AND WILLIAM CHAPMAN, OF NEWBRITAIN, CONN, ASSIGNORS TO AMERICAN HOSIERY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN METHODS OF PUTTING UNFINISHED WORK ON KNITTING-MACHINES.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 179,403, dated July4, 1876; application filed December 23, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD H. Davrson and WM. CHAPMAN, both of NewBritain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain Improvements in the Art of Putting Unfinished Work uponKnitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification: 7

Our invention is designed for use withthat class of machines known asthe straight or flat knitting loom. In manufacturing the variousarticles'of knit goods, such as shirts, drawers, stockings, 8210., uponthis class of machines, the product of which is commonly calledfashioned goods, it is necessary, in knitting the different parts of thegarments, (such as the bodies and sleeves of shirts, the legs, heels,and feet of stockin gs, &c.,) to remove the work when only a portion ofit is complete, and then place a series of loops or stitches other thanthose last removed from the needles upon the machine, to knit the restof the article.

- Onr invention consists of putting a series of selvage-loops of a pieceof fabric upon a series of points secured to a detachable bar, and thentransferring the loops from the series of points to the needles of aknitting-machine,

and after starting said machine removing the bar, so that the operatormay secure or run on another series of loops to the series of pointswhile the machine is in operation, all as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a bar providedwith a series of points for use in the practice of our invention. Fig. 2is a side elevation of said bar and parts of a knitting-machine. Fig. 3is a side elevation of the same parts of a machine, and Figs. 4 and 5are detached views of the points named in description of Fig. 1.

The operation of placing the loops of a knit fabric on the ordinaryknitting-needles, or running on as it is termed, is attended with somedifficulty, from the fact that the end of the common bearded needle isnecessarily blunt, and this difliculty is increased when it is desiredto run on the outside or selvage loopsfor example, to knit a sleeve to abody already formed, when a sufficient number of loops in the selvage ofthe body at the shoulders, to

give the sleeve the desired width, must be placed upon the needles.

When the sleeve is to be knit from the extreme or seli'age loops, it hasheretofore been necessary for the operator to take loops with a hook orworking needle, and pass them over the heads or beards of the needles,one loop at a time. This operation is necessarily slow, and occasionsmuch loss of time, as the machine is idle during this process oftransferring by hand.

We employ a series of points, b, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, whichare secured by their hooked ends to a bar, A. There are as many of thesepoints I) as there are needles in the machine, and their gage andposition should correspond. These points are held in place by groovescut in the bar A, the clamped or hooked ends entering holes drilled inthe bar to receive them, when a cap or bar is screwed down .upon them.The manner of securing them to the bar is immaterial, and it may be donein any ordinary manner of securing similar pieces. Each of the points I)has a groove or recess, d, Fig. 5, upon its under side, which groove islarge enough to receive the head or beard of the needle, and on theupper side said points have a small projection, a, the use of which willbe hereinafter explained. The bar A is made as light as is consistentwith strength, and may be provided with a handle, if desired. This bar,with its series of points facing the operator, is temporarilysecured bya clamp or button to the framing of the machine, or in other convenientposition near the machine, and while the machine is at work knitting apiece previously put upon it, the operator may be employed in taking upor running on the selvage-loops of another piece upon the points of thebar A, which, being sharp, readily enter the stitches or loops, whichare then pushed back upon the stems of the points until they are broughtinto line by the projections a on the top of the points I). Having nowthe loops of the fabric hanging on the points of the bar A, it is readyfor transferring to the machine so soon as the latter is ready toreceive the said loops.

In the drawings we have shown the parts i amen.

of the machine (except the bar A) patented to Arthur Paget May 21, 1867;but our process is adapted for use with other machines of a similarcharacter. We have only shown such portions of the machine as arenecessary to exhibit the manner of transferring the loops from the barto the needles.

O represents the ordinary bearded needle, which, in this machine, isfixed in a movable bar, D. B designates a sinker, the office of which iswell known, and moving vertically, as usual, in a support. (Not shown.)E designates the knocking-over bar, on the upper side of which is acomb, through which the needles pass, and by means of which the knockingover of the loops is effected.

In order to transfer the stitches to the needles 0 of the machine, theyare brought into the position shown in Fig. 2. The sinkers B areelevated out of the way, and the workman takes the bar A in his hand andplacesit over the needles in such a manner that each point covers thehead of its corresponding needle, the beards of the needles beingreceived in the groove at the under side of the points 1). While the baris held in this position the sinkers B are depressed, when the lower endof each sinker passes between two of the points I) in front of the loopsthereon, and when the points are being withdrawn said sinker preventsthe work from coming forward. The operator now brings the needlebarforward, the sinkers still being depressed, to prevent the work comingforward, as shown in Fig. 3. During this forward movement of the needlestheir heads are guided into the loops on the points I), and the bar A isremoved, leaving the loops hanging on the stems of the needle 0, asshown in Fig. 3. Yarn is supplied to the needles, and the knittingproceeds. The attendant now runs on the points 1) another piece of work,and, when the knitting of the previous one is completed, has the barloaded ready to put the work upon the machine, as before described.

By our improved method of putting on work the machine is delayed but ashort time after finishing each piece of work before commencin ganother, and an experienced workman can keep several machines at work,using only a single bar.

The points b for other uses, and when permanently secured in a machine,are old, and not claimed by us.

We claim as our invention That improvement in the art of putting theselvage of knit fabrics upon the needles of flat-knitting looms,consisting in placing a series of selvage loops or stitches upon aseries of grooved points, secured to a portable bar, placing the barover the bearded needles with the beards'resting in the grooves of thepoints, and then, by aid of the sinkers, transferring the loops orstitches from the points to the needles, all substantially as described,and

for the purpose set forth.

EDWARD H. DAVISON. WILLIAM CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

G. E. MITCHELL, F. L. HUNGERFORD. V

